A friend and I decided to find this lake today because I've heard about it but have never been there. It is just off fwy 15, exit Cleghorn and head West. You'll make a right onto Swartout Canyon. I was able to snap a few pictures before my camera decided to crap out on me. It was a bit disappointing as I was expecting the lake to be a bit larger. It's more or less a big pond. The water itself is pretty clear, but the visitors have made the surrounding area dirty and full of trash (not to mention lots of taggings).

These fruits look interesting, but I have no idea what it is. They look like miniature peaches and are only as big as your average thumbnail...

The small tree with the fruits is a native chaparral cherry--the Islay (Spanish) Cherry. We call it the Holly-leaved Cherry, Prunus ilicifolia. It is quite common to see the red fruits in the fall. Coyotes eat these fruits and I notice the stones in the scats this time of year.

Because this is in the Stone Fruit Family---cherries, peaches, apricots, prunes, almonds, etc, the Islay cherry has a high amount of cyanide in the stone---the seed of the fruit. The flesh of the Islay fruit is almost non-existent and there is really just skin before you find the large stone. I have no idea why coyotes find them worth eating. What do they do? Climb the tree?

The Chumash used the Islay in preference to acorns for a staple diet. They ground and ate the kernels of the cracked stones---however they first processed them by various methods to remove the hydrocyanic acid which could be deadly. For a complete review of the curing and cooking process read Chumash Ethnobotany by Jan Timbrook.

That is an interesting lake. I am guessing it is a fault lake as it is right on the San Andreas. I have taken Cleghorn Road the other direction--east--up and over to Silverwood Lake. It is an easy drive for a vehicle with moderate clearance.

Yeah from what I've read, the lake is right on top of the fault and the water is always cold even in Summer months. Water level has never dropped even though they use the lake as a source of water to put out fires in the surrounding area.